Electrician breaches bail by entering house at 3am

A young man who breached his bail by entering the home of a woman he was ordered to stay away from has been imprisoned for 13 weeks.

Trevor Couper, 21, of Cairnfield Road in Lerwick entered the house in Sandveien at 3am on Saturday, despite being subject to a court order that he stay away from her.

The woman was in bed asleep, but woke up to find he had entered her home without any invite. He left, but was taken into custody after a family member of the woman phoned the police.

Lerwick Sheriff Court heard today it was a “straightforward” and “wilful” breach.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said: “He walked to the house at 3am while she was asleep, and she woke up and found him in the bedroom. It clearly gave her a shock to find him there.”

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Couper, who has just started a six-month placement as an electrician, had been contacted by the woman prior to the offence. She had told him to come to the house to collect his belongings in a text message, which had been sent earlier in the evening.

He said Couper should have realised that was a breach of bail.

Sheriff Philip Mann reduced the sentence from 20 weeks to reflect the early plea.

“You can’t really stand before me and say you didn’t realise breaching a bail condition was a serious matter,” he said.